PHOTOS | Rainbow lights on Antwerp landmarks for pride… and the municipal elections

The 17th edition of Antwerp Pride takes place from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 August 2024. This year’s theme is ‘Many Voices. One Pride‘. The organising committee advocates a more militant pride, with a “we’re not going back in the closet” attitude in reaction to rising conservatism and conformism. But let’s face it: pride is also celebration. In the run up to August, let’s look at activities and events. Also don’t forget Antwerp Queer Arts Festival from 3 to 31 August.

The Antwerp Opera House in rainbow colours at night and during the day.

The seventeenth edition of Antwerp Pride kicks off today. The past days and the coming days Antwerp is and will be dressed in rainbow colours everywhere. Rainbow flags are visible on various buildings, in streets and on the Velo shared bicycles.

The City of Antwerp is lighting up several major and lesser landmarks in rainbow colours. Some give a really beautiful result, such as the Antwerp Opera House. Others are underwhelming, such as Sint-Paulusplaats or the Bourla Theatre.

The Bourla Theatre aka Bourlaschouwburg aka Toneelhuis.

Het Steen or Stone Castle gives a better result.

Existing lighting

The City is using existing lights which illuminate the public areas and building anyways. By adding filters, they light up in rainbow colours. More or less. Antwerp-Central Railway Station for instance uses five instead of six colours. Yellow and orange have become one.

Antwerp-Central Railway Station in rainbow colours.

It’s an election year

While I was heading out on several nights after 10 PM to go photograph some of the lit landmarks, my penny dropped. The last time Antwerp lit up landmarks – such as the Museum At the Stream (Museum Aan de Stroom or MAS) or the St. Anne’s Pedestrian Tunnel (Sint-Annavoetgangerstunnel) – in rainbow colours, was in 2018.

2018 and 2024 have in common that they’re election years. In Belgium, municipal elections are held every six years in October.

Does the city government wants to make an extra effort to get some goodwill from the pink vote?

I find the coincidence not to be coincidental. Why did it take six year to again light up some monuments? Why not each year?

Museum Plantin-Moretus in rainbow colours.

Rainbowwashing

The city government has been accused of rainbowwashing or pinkwashing before, using city marketing tools to get some goodwill from LGBTQIA+ voters.

The opposition will say the N-VA & Vooruit coalition (where N-VA is the vastly dominant partner) have enough substantial queer friendly policies. The N-VA is often seen as too right wing and conservative, and only willing to cater to gentrified (bourgeois?) gay and lesbian citizens.

In Brussels, the presence of an N-VA delegation in the pride parade is always controversial. For some, the New Flemish Alliance – a conservative party in the British sense of the term – is the devil.

Are N-VA rainbowwashing? That depends of your parameters and expectations. But I couldn’t help linking the rainbow lights with 2018 and this year’s municipal elections.

DIVA, Antwerp’s diamond, jewelry and silverware museum in rainbow colours.

By the way

I did not photograph all lit landmarks. Some of them are to far away to walk to late night. And I can’t ride a bike.

Here is a full list.

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